Weekend Tracks: Music Friday

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This week in music news Kanye West performed the first song off his forthcoming album at the BRIT Awards (the audio has since been removed from YouTube, but Oasis’s Liam Gallagher assures us that it’s “utter shit”. Kanye also issued apologies (via Twitter) to both Beck — for his Grammy interruption — and Bruno Mars for formerly “hating on” him. BBC Radio 1 released Kanye’s 45-minute interview with Zane Lowe and Piers Morgan labeled Kanye West as the “Muhammad Ali of showbusiness” in a Daily Mailcolumn that showered the rapper with praise. Kanye wore adidas clothing that Kanye designed and Kanye’s wife shared a photo of Kanye’s wife’s ass.

– All Kanye and no new music will make for a pretty dull work week –

Luckily, while Kanye was clogging your newsfeeds, notable new tracks still found their ways through the cracks. And here are our four favorites…

FLIGHT FACILITIES – “DOWN TO EARTH”
Although the song was released as the title track on the Australian duo’s latest album back in October, we couldn’t rightfully compile this list without acknowledging its recently unveiled music video. In it, actor Sam Rockwell borrows a few moves from Christopher Walken (a la Fatboy Slim’s “Weapon of Choice”) as he smoothly slithers to the groove throughout an empty diner in a swaggering fantasy.

FATHER JOHN MISTY – “BIRD ON THE WIRE” (LEONARD COHEN COVER)
Earlier this week, smooth singing deity Josh Tillman (aka Father John Misty) stopped by The Strombo Show to promote his sophomore record I Love You Honeybear. While we would have graciously devoured an acoustic performance of any of his cynically saccharine tunes, we were instead blessed with a divine cover of Leonard Cohen’s 1969 classic “Bird on a Wire.” And Misty’s rendition ranks right up there among those performed by Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, and Dave Van Ronk.

I Love You Honeybear is out now on Sub Pop.

THE TALLEST MAN ON EARTH – “SAGRES”
Swedish singer-songwriter Kristian Matsson bared the first sample of his new album, Dark Bird Is Home on Tuesday. It’s the first new sound to come out of the artist since 2012 – and he’s clearly spent that time thoroughly rewiring his craft. The single “Sagres” also hints that Matsson enjoyed the latest record from The War On Drugs, but really, who didn’t?

Dark Bird Is Home is slated to release May 12 via Dead Oceans.

WILL BUTLER – “MADONNA CAN’T SAVE ME NOW”
Although big brother/band mate Win is the man with the mic and the face of Arcade Fire, young Will has recently been gaining great notoriety for his own projects. Along with Owen Pallett, composer Will won an Academy Award for scoring Her, and solo-artist Will is now gearing up to release his debut LP, Policy. To promote said album, Butler took on the unique task of writing a new song every day this entire week, each being about a news story covered by The Guardian. Our favorite was Thursday’s “Madonna Can’t Stop Us Now” – he had intended to quirkily write about the BRIT Awards, “but they just found a black hole 12bn times the mass of the sun and almost as old as the universe itself, so, whatever.” News, huh? Check out the entire collection here.